In many automotive, household appliance and machine tool applications, fluid conduits or tubes that carry pressurized fluids must be capable of being disconnected to permit repair or replacement of components of the system. To facilitate initial connection and subsequent disconnection, there has been developed a class of quick-connect fittings or tube coupling devices as exemplified by the disclosure of U.S. Pat No. 3,711,125 issued Jan. 16, 1973 to David C. Dehar for a "Quick-Connect Fitting for a Hydraulic Conduit" and the disclosure of U.S. application Ser. No. 528,108 filed Nov. 11, 1974 by Phillip A. Sandford and John D. York for a "Quick-Connect Tubing Coupling", now U.S. patent issued.
As a result of the earlier development work on quick-connect/disconnect fittings as exemplified by the above patents, design criteria have been established for such devices. These include but are not limited to the following:
1. Connect/disconnect assembly time must be significantly reduced over currently available fittings,
2. Connection must be accomplished by hand push effort, although use of a tool for disconnection is permissible,
3. The cost of the components must be as low as possible and is to be achieved in part by the elimination of screw parts,
4. The quick-connect assemblies must weigh less than current fittings available,
5. The "O" ring must be visible and secured in a groove to avoid warranty rework because of missing "O" rings,
6. Less dependence on human factor during assembly, thereby anticipating reliability improvements and warranty cost reduction,
7. Coupling must have no rotary orientation requirement, thereby allowing hose assembly to neutralize all torsional stresses in the system, and
8. The design must have no threads thereby eliminating cross threading.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a quick-connect fitting that will satisfy the foregoing criteria.